Description
Book SynopsisMysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam traces the sweep of mysticism_the search for oneness with God_throughout the three Abrahamic traditions. Beginning with a definition of mysticism and a discussion of its place within religion as a whole, Ori Z. Soltes explores the history of mysticism from the Biblical times through the present day.
Trade ReviewThis book is brilliant, learned, insightful, and of great importance at this time of religious tension. -- Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God
Ori Soltes' book represents a breakthrough in the teaching of comparative mysticism. The author transforms the esoteric into the comprehensible and affords the reader a window into a subject which has heretofore been the possession of an eclectic minority. Soltes' writing style is scintillating and captivating. -- Rabbi Harold S. White, Georgetown University
Recommended. Two-star review. * CHOICE, March 2009 *
Ori Soltes writes with deep understanding, broad learning, and a flair for making history and ideas come alive. He shows the common quest for transcendence in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim mysticism from antiquity to the present and brings the three traditions into dialogue with each other, something they could not do themselves. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and contemporary spirituality. -- David Ariel, Baltimore Hebrew University, author of Kabbalah
Table of ContentsIntroduction: What is Mysticism? Chapter 1 The Birth and Development of the Abrahamic Faiths Chapter 2 The Roots of Judaism and Christianity Chapter 3 The Emergence of Jewish Mystical Thought Chapter 4 Early Christian Mysticism Chapter 5 A Third Player on the Stage: Muslim Mysticism from the Qur'an to Ibn 'Arabi Chapter 6 Medieval Jewish Mysticism form Merkavah to Kabbalah Chapter 7 Medieval Christian Mysticism from Assisi to Avila Chapter 8 The Spread of and Variety within Sufism Chapter 9 Variations within Jewish and Christian Mysticism from the Renaissance through Emancipation Chapter 10 Still Searching: The Persistence of Mysticism in the Modern Era Chapter 11 Unfinished Epilogues Suggestions for Further Reading
